Sandi Markey honored with award during the Hartford Go Red For Women Digital Event
Shelby & Sandi Markey
Women throughout Connecticut are making a difference in their communities with exceptional contributions in all aspects of life, including the health and well-being of others. Since 2018, the American Heart Association (AHA) has honored one Connecticut woman representing these attributions with the Women of Distinction award. On March 24, the 2021 Go Red for Women® Woman of Distinction Award was presented to Sandi Markey for her extraordinary impact on the health of women in Connecticut.
Sandi was presented her award during the Greater Hartford Go Red For Women digital event, presented by Saint Francis Hospital, and chosen as the 2021 award recipient based on her ongoing support and dedication to the American Heart Association and its mission to fight heart disease and stroke throughout Connecticut.
Sandi has been a volunteer for the AHA since 2016, contributing as a National Wear Red Day volunteer and a member of the Aetna Hartford Heart Walk Team. She raised more than $30,000 in her first year. Sandi and her daughter, Shelby, a congenital heart defect survivor, were part of an educational, traveling “Go Red Gallery for Women,” which raised awareness of women’s greatest health threat, heart disease, throughout Connecticut.
2017 Campaign
In addition, Sandi has been an integral part of the Greater Hartford Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Team and was a member of the Connecticut Board of Directors for the American Heart Association from 2016-2020. As the executive director, commercial business operations integrity at Aetna, a CVS Health Company, Sandi made it her mission to engage and educate Aetna employees on cardiovascular health in Connecticut as well as nationally and globally.
Past recipients of the Women of Distinction Award include Leigh Pechillo in 2018, Jill Hummel in 2019 and Corliss Montesi in 2020.
While nearly 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, claiming the lives of 1 in 3 women. Go Red for Women believes that every woman has a reason to live a healthier, longer life and empowers women—and men—to take charge of their heart health.
The Go Red for Women movement is nationally sponsored by CVS Health.
For more information on the Go Red For Women Movement, visit goredforwomen.org.